Middle School Reading

1
Middle School Reading

• MiBLSi
• Michigan Integrated Behavior and Learning Support
  Initiative
  
• Schoolwide Reading Day
• September 2007

2
Acknowledgements

• Based on the work of
• Alliance for Education Reading Next
• (Biancarosa Snow, 2004)
• Anita ArcherArcherteach_at_aol.com
• Center on Instruction Academic Literacy
  Instruction for Adolescents A guidance document
  from the Center on Instruction
  
• (Torgesen, et. al., 2007)

• Developed by
• MiBLSi State Trainers
• Diane Bussema, Lynn Dykstra, Gloria Johnson, Kim
  St. Martin, John Vail, and Jim Weaver
  
• MiBLSi Directors
• Steve Goodman, Margie McGlinchey, and Kathryn
  Schallmo
  

3

• This document was produced and distributed
  through an IDEA Mandated Activities Project for
  Michigans Integrated Behavior and Learning
  Support Initiative (MiBLSi) awarded by the
  Michigan Department of Education. The opinions
  expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the
  position or policy of the Michigan Department of
  Education, the Michigan State Board of Education,
  or the U.S. Department of Education, and no
  endorsement is inferred. This document is in the
  public domain and may be copied for further
  distribution when proper credit is given. For
  further information or inquiries about this
  project, contact the Michigan Department of
  Education, Office of Special Education and Early
  Intervention Services, P.O. Box 30008, Lansing,
  Michigan 48909.

4
Setting Group Expectations

• To make this day the best possible, we need your
  assistance and participation
  
• Please allow others to listen
• Turn off cell phones and pagers
• Limit conversations at your table to allow others
  the opportunity to hear the presenters
  
• Share air time
• Active participation
• Please ask questions
• Participate with the come back together signal
• Take care of your own needs

5
Todays Agenda

• Components of a Schoolwide Reading Model
• Research Summary of Middle School Literacy
• Goals, Objectives, Priorities
• Assessment
• Lunch
• Instructional Program and Materials
• Instructional Time
• Differentiated Instruction/Grouping/Scheduling
• Administration/Organization/Communication
• Professional Development
• Action Planning

6
Literacy Crisis
7
Reading Skills are Dangerously Low

• More than 8 million students in grades 4-12 are
  struggling readers (U.S. DOE, 2003)
  
• 2 in 3 high school students read below grade
  level (U.S. DOE, 2003)
  
• 1 in 4 high school students reads far below grade
  level (U.S. DOE, 2003)

8
Reading Skills are Dangerously Low

• Every school day, more than 3000 students drop
  out of high school (Alliance for Excellent
  Education, 2003)
  
• Only 70 of high school students graduate on time
  with a regular diploma
  
• Over 75 of students who drop out of school
  ascribe major significance to the difficulties
  experienced in learning to read (Lyon, 2001)
  
• Among the prison population, 70 demonstrate
  literacy at the two lowest levels of reading
  proficiency (NIFL, 1998)
  

9
12th Grade Reading2 in 3 students are not
proficient in Reading.
66
62
U.S. Department of Education 2003
10
8th Grade Reading
71
71
Nations Report Card 2005
11
What Are the Results?Low reading levels lead to
high dropout rates.

• Students in the bottom quartile of achievement
  are 20 times more likely to dropout than students
  in the top quartile.

20 X
Carnevale 2001 Kamil 2003 Snow Biancarosa
2003.
12
What Are the Results?What happens to entering
9th graders four years later
Alliance for Excellent Education
37 Graduate from High School Not College-R
eady
29 Dropout of High School
34 Graduate from High School College-Ready
Greene Winters 2005
13
What Does the Reading DataTell Us?

• On average, students of color and poor students
  are more likely to read at below basic levels, or
  far below grade level.
  
• Where a student lives is not an indicator of
  their reading performance. Students in rural,
  suburban, and urban areas alike struggle to read
  at grade level.

14
Indeed, the fundamental finding from the
Education Trust studies is that however important
demographic variables may appear in their
association with student achievement, teaching
quality is the most dominant factor in
determining student success.
Education Trust, 2001
15
Current Literacy Policies and Practices Do Not
Support Adolescents

• Reading First Program under NCLB supports
  research-based programs in grades K-3
  
• At fourth grade text changes and teachers are
  less prepared to incorporate literacy instruction
  into classes.
  
• Fourth-grade slump- a drop in the achievement and
  reading comprehension skills of poor, minority,
  and students learning English.

16
Reading Next-In addition to the Reading First
program for students in grade K-3, the nation
needs a Reading Next program to extend the focus
on quality literacy instruction for students in
grades 4-12.
Available for download _at_ www.all4ed.org
17
Team Activity

• Discuss the state of literacy proficiency of your
  own students.
  
• List the needs you see and the skills that
  students are lacking on the chart paper.

18
What is the Solution?
19
Adolescent Literacy Policy

• Improvements to
• Adolescent Literacy must involve both Instruction
  and Infrastructure.

20
15 Elements of Successful Adolescent Literacy
Program

• Instructional Improvements
• Direct, explicit comprehension instruction
• Effective instructional principles embedded in
  content
  
• Motivation and self-directed learning
• Text-based collaborative learning
• Strategic tutoring
• Diverse texts
• Intensive writing
• Technology component
• Ongoing formative assessment of students

• Infrastructure Improvements
• Extended time for literacy
• Professional development
• Ongoing summative assessment of students and
  programs
  
• Teacher teams
• Leadership
• A comprehensive and coordinated literacy program

Reading Next Alliance for Excellent Education
2004
21
15 Elements of Successful Adolescent Literacy
Program
CURRICULUM INSTRUCT
ION Direct, explicit comprehension i
nstruction Effective instructional p
rinciples embedded in content
Motivation and self-directed
learning Text-based collaborative le
arning Technology component
Strategic tutoring Diverse te
xts Intensive writing
ASSESSMENT Ongoing formative assessment
of students Ongoing summative assessment of
students and programs

Academic Literacy
LITERACY ENVIRONMENT RESOURCES
Extended time for literacy
Professional development
Teacher teams Leadership
22
Adolescent Literacy Instruction Basics

• The following series of slides are based on the
  work of the Center on Instruction in the report
  Academic Literacy Instruction for Adolescents,
  2007

Available for download at www.centeroninstruction.
org

23
Enough is already known about adolescent
literacy both the nature of the problems of
struggling readers and the types of interventions
and approaches to address these needs in order
to act immediately on a broad scale

• Biancarosa Snow, 2006

24
Three Goals for Improving Academic Literacy in
Adolescents

• Increase all students overall levels of reading
  proficiency
  
• Ensure students who have achieved grade-level
  reading standards by the end of 3rd grade
  continue to meet increasingly difficult standards
  in middle and high schools
• Help students who are reading below grade-level
  standards acquire the skills and knowledge
  required to meet those standards.
  
• Note they must make multiple years growth for
  each year of instruction if they are to
  eventually achieve grade-level standards in
  reading.

25
Focus on Instruction The Six Essential Areas

• Reading Fluency
• Vocabulary Knowledge
• Domain-specific and domain-general content
  knowledge
  
• Higher-level reasoning and thinking skills
• Cognitive strategies that can be applied to
  enhance reading comprehension
  
• Motivation and engagement

26
Focus of Instruction

• Reading fluency
• Absolute level does not change much after 6th
  grade (approx. 150 wcpm).
  
• Significant increase in sight vocabulary to
  maintain fluency level
  
• Most efficient to use phonological and
  morphographic strategies to identify new words
  
• Also need high levels of reading practice in
  appropriate leveled text

27
Focus of Instruction

• Vocabulary knowledge
• Expanding knowledge needs to be supported in two
  principle ways
  
• Inferring meaning from context
• Knowledge of word parts (morphemes)
• Explicit and systematic instruction with
  carefully selected new vocabulary is essential,
  especially for struggling readers

28
Focus of Instruction

• Domain-specific and domain-general content
  knowledge
  
• Acquired through
• broad and deep reading
• explicit instruction
• Students who cannot read grade-level text
  proficiently especially need more powerful
  instruction from their content-area teachers
  because they are less able to acquire critical
  conceptual and factual knowledge from the text
  themselves.

29
Focus of Instruction

• Higher-level reasoning and thinking skills
• Students must grow in their ability to make
  inferences, draw conclusions, and engage in
  critical thinking
  
• Students ability to think deeply about what they
  are reading must be stimulated and supported by
  their classroom experiences grades 4 through
  12

30
Focus of Instruction

• Cognitive strategies that can be applied
  specifically to enhance reading comprehension
  
• Proficient readers are much more likely to use a
  variety of purposeful strategies to enhance their
  comprehension
  
• Rereading
• Paraphrasing
• Make explicit connections to prior knowledge
• Underlining and note-taking
• Visualization
• These can be taught directly by all teachers!
  More effective instruction and support in the
  use of multiple, coordinated reading
  comprehension strategies is required in order to
  improve

31
Focus of Instruction

• Motivation and engagement
• Motivation and interest in reading declines after
  early elementary gradesparticularly for student
  who have struggled during the initial stages of
  learning to read.
• This results in
• Not reading as much
• Less engaged when they read
• Research-based strategies for enhancing
  adolescents motivation and engagement in reading
  must be a part of any comprehensive plan for
  improving levels of academic literacy.

32
Partner Activity

• Take a minute with your partner and take turns
  defining each of these big ideas. Pretend that
  you are telling parents at conference time what
  these big ideas mean.

33
A difficult job

• Ensuring adequate literacy development for all
  students in middle and high school is a more
  challenging task than in the primary grades.
  
• Literacy skills are more complex, more embedded
  in subject matters, and more multiply determined
  
• Adolescents are not as universally motivated to
  read better

34
But doable - if we are all involved

• Teachers of science, mathematics, history, etc.
  must teach their subject matter so that students
  not only learn the content more deeply but learn
  to read content-area texts more strategically and
  become more proficient in thinking about the
  content.
• Note Although reading strategies might be
  taught explicitly in a designated reading
  support class, students are unlikely to
  generalize them broadly to content areas unless
  teachers also explicitly support and elaborate
  the strategies use within the content-area texts.

35
and if we have support

• Clear outcomes
• Evidence-based practices
• Ongoing information and feedback
• Systems to support and sustain implementation
• (e.g. PD, collaboration, action-orientation,
  time, resources)

36
Team ActivityGetting Everyone on Board

• What level of understanding does all of your
  staff have in regards to improving literacy?
  
• What are the needs for staff to increase
  understanding?
  

List your teams responses on the chart paper.
37
Improving Literacy Skills of All Students

• General Recommendations
• Schools should have tiered interventions that
  allow significant increases in intensity of
  instruction for students based on their literacy
  needs.
• Struggling readers must make more than one years
  growth in reading each year of instruction
  

38
Intervention Strategies

• Word-reading Strategies
• Decoding Skills
• Syllabication
• Morphemic Analysis
• Repeated Readings
• Teacher-moderated Readings (e.g. echo read, cloze
  reading, unison reading)

39
Conclusions from Intervention Research

• Intensive and skillful instruction in basic word
  reading skills can have a significant impact on
  the comprehension ability of students. However,
  if reading accuracy is fairly high, there may be
  little benefit spending more time to improve this
  skill further
• Repeated readings impact is significantly
  impacted by a skilled peer or teacher
  
• Non-repeated readings with corrective feedback
  can also have a significant impact on fluency and
  comprehension

40
Conclusions (continued)

• In terms of interventions focused on vocabulary
  and comprehension, adolescent struggling readers
  benefit from direct and explicit instruction of
  effective reading strategies.
• Struggling readers may require support beyond
  that which content-area teachers can provide to
  become proficient, but it would seem immensely
  helpful if content-area teachers were explaining
  and reinforcing the use of similar strategies in
  the content texts.

41
Where Have We Done It?With this kind of
intervention, schools have improved literacy.
Summary of the Second Adolescent Literacy
Workshops 2002.
42
Where Have We Done It?With this kind of
intervention, schools have improved literacy.
43
Using the Schoolwide Evaluation Planning Tool
(SWEPT) for Middle School Literacy
The SWEPT is based on the Planning and
Evaluation Tool-Rev. (Simmons Kameenui, 2003)
44
SWEPT

• The SWEPT is designed to help schools take
  stock of their strengths and areas of
  improvement in developing a schoolwide plan for
  teaching reading in Middle Schools.
• The items and criteria in the SWEPT represent the
  ideal conditions and total to 100 points.
  
• Score reflects how you are currently doing as a
  school in your instructional practices. This tool
  is designed to assist in your planning and
  implementation.

45
Overview of the SWEPT

• Evaluation Sections reflect critical components
  of a Schoolwide Model
  
• Goals, Objectives, Priorities
• Assessment
• Instructional Program and Materials
• Instructional Time
• Differentiated Instruction/Grouping/Scheduling
• Administration/Organization/Communication
• Professional Development

46
SWEPTSection 1 Goals, Objectives, Priorities

• Goals for reading achievement are
• clearly defined
• anchored to research
• prioritized in terms of importance to student
  learning,
  
• commonly understood by users
• consistently employed as instructional guides by
  teachers in the middle school.

47
Goals, Objectives, and Priorities

• Example Statement
• I know the essential reading goals my colleagues
  and I are expected to teach and there is a system
  in place to determine if we are meeting the needs
  of all learners.
• Non-example Statement
• I am not sure what my fellow teachers are doing.
  I assume they do the same things that I do.
  

48
GoalsA Set of Strategic, Research-Based,
Measurable Goals to Guide Instruction,
Assessment, and Learning

• Specific goals that include targeted, measurable,
  outcomes with a precise time frame.
  
• Reading and literacy goals aligned to promote
  growth in knowledge, reading, and thinking
  skills
  
• Clear goals and expectations for each grade
• Reliance on research to determine what to teach
  and when to teach it

49
Goals

• I will become a better person
• I will organize my desk
• I will volunteer at the youth center over the
  summer
  
• I will grade half of these tests by the time
  Dancing with the Stars begins.
  

General Specific
50
Goals

• Goals that are specific include targeted,
  measurable outcomes (how much/how well)
  
• Goals that are specific include a precise time
  frame (by when)

I will grade half of these tests by the time
Dancing with the Stars begins.
51
In reading, specific goals provide a detailed map
to guide instruction, assessment and learning.

• Specific Reading Goals
• Tell you what to teach and when
• Provide a framework for determining whether
  students are learning enough
  
• Provide a framework for determining whether
  instruction is meeting the needs of all students

52
Goal Setting for Middle School Reading

• To impact literacy achievement, middle
  schools must focus instruction. Consequently,
  goals should be set for the following six
  essential areas for improving adolescent
  literacy
• Reading Fluency
• Content Knowledge
• Vocabulary Knowledge
• Higher Level Thinking Skills
• Comprehension
• Motivation and Engagement
• Torgeson, et.al (2007). Academic
  Literacy Instruction for Adolescents A Guidance
  Document from the Center on Instruction

With your partner, create a goal for one of
the six essential areas.
53
Example Goals

• 80 of 7th grade students will be reading 150
  wcpm in grade level text by January of 2008.
  
• Of 6th grade students will be able to accurately
  define and apply the 100 critical high utility
  words by the end of the year.
  
• Through teacher-peer observation, 95 of students
  will be actively engaged and responding during
  teacher-led instruction by October of 2008.

54
Completing the SWEPT

• SWEPT can be completed individually or in school
  teams
  
• Evaluation criteria Each item has a value of 0,
  1, or 2 to indicate the level of implementation
  
• Some items are designated with a factor, (e.g.,
  x2). Items with this designation are considered
  more important in the overall reading program.
  Multiply your rating by the number in parentheses
  and record that number in the blank to the left
  of the item.
• Documentation of Evidence In the right-hand
  column of the table for each section, document
  the evidence to support your rating for each
  item.
• Ex. What does it look like? How would an outsider
  know?

55
(No Transcript)
56
Using the SWEPT to Evaluate a Schoolwide Reading
Program Objectives, Goals, Priorities

• Activity Complete Section 1 of the SWEPT
• Review and Complete each item
• As a school team, report one common score for
  each item and document the information sources
  available to substantiate the score reported.

57
SWEPTSection II Assessment

• Instruments and procedures for assessing
  reading achievement are
  
• clearly specified
• measure essential skills
• provide reliable and valid information about
  student performance
  
• inform instruction in important, meaningful, and
  maintainable ways

58
Assessment

• Example Statements
• I receive and use the results of assessments
  promptly to differentiate instruction.
  
• Non-examples statements
• All of my students are assessed but I rarely see
  the resulting data.

59
Purposes of Assessment in the Schoolwide Model

• Teaching without assessment is like driving
  a car at night without headlights.
  
• Assessment for all children must
• Focus on essential, important skills
• Be instructionally relevant
• Be efficient to administer
• Be sensitive to change in skill performance
• Measure automaticity of performance

60
Reading Assessment For Different Purposes

• An effective, comprehensive reading program
  includes reading assessments for four purposes
  
• Outcome
• Screening
• Diagnostic
• Progress Monitoring

61
Outcome Assessment

• Purpose to determine level of proficiency in
  relation to norm or criterion
  
• When Typically administered annually. Can be
  administered pre/post to assess overall growth.
  
• Who All students
• Relation to instruction Provides index of
  overall efficacy but limited timely instructional
  information

62
Screening Assessment

• Purpose To determine children who are likely to
  require additional instructional support
  (predictive validity)
  
• When Early in the academic year or when new
  students enter school
  
• Who All students
• Relation to Instruction Most valuable when used
  to identify children who may need further
  assessment or additional instructional support.

63
Diagnostic Assessment

• Purpose To provide specific information on
  skills and strategy needs of individual students
  
• When Following screening or at points during the
  year when students are not making adequate
  progress.
  
• Who Selected students as indicated by screening
  of progress monitoring measures or teacher
  judgment
  
• Relation to Instruction Provided specific
  information on target skills highly relevant.

64
Progress Monitoring Assessment

• Purpose Frequent, timely measures to determine
  whether students are learning enough of critical
  skills
  
• When At minimum, 3 times per year at critical
  decision making points
  
• Who All Students
• Relation to Instruction Indicates students who
  require additional assessment and intervention

65
Curriculum Based Measurement(e.g. AIMSWeb)

• A Valid and Reliable Schoolwide Assessment
  System
  
• Linked to big ideas
• Addresses the following purposes
• Screening
• Progress monitoring
• Sometimes diagnostic
• Sometimes outcome

66
The Need for Results-Focused Assessment

• Instructional Time is Precious
• CBM measures do not assess all aspects of
  reading
  
• Short duration fluency-based measures
• Some Skills are More Important Than Others
• Provides timely feedback to enable responsive
  intervention
  
• Allows identification of students who need
  instructional support

67
Section II Assessment
68
Using the SWEPT to Evaluate a Schoolwide Reading
Program Assessment

• Activity Complete Section II of the SWEPT
• Review and Complete each item
• As a school team, report one common score for
  each item and document the information sources
  available to substantiate the score reported.

69
How Are We Doing?

• Weather Report
• As a team provide a description in
  meteorological terms of the status of your
  schools literacy instruction (e.g. Sunny warm,
  Hurricane Warnings, Mostly cloudy, etc.)

70
PET-R

• Section III
• Instructional Programs and Materials
• The instructional programs and materials have
• documented efficacy
• drawn from research based findings and
  practices,
  
• align with state standards and benchmarks
• support a full range of learners.

71
Instructional Programs and Materials

• Example Statements
• We have identified and acquired programs and
  strategies of proven effectiveness to address
  critical learning outcomes for all students.
  
• We ensure that all literacy teachers are using
  programs and strategies of proven effectiveness
  with fidelity and are focusing on the same
  learning outcomes

72
Instructional Programs and Materials

• Non-example Statements
• I use most of the curriculum we agreed upon. I
  am not aware of any information on how effective
  the practices and strategies are in terms of
  achieving reading outcomes.
• There is no method of support or monitoring to
  ensure that the Implementation of the curriculum
  is being done effectively in each classroom.
  

73
Why focus on identifying critical learning goals
and proven strategies?

• Aligning what we know and what we do to maximize
  outcomes.
  
• The research literature on critical skills
  students need to be successful readers is
  compelling. You have heard the list of six
  essential areas for improving adolescent literacy
  twice. Can you remember any without peeking?
  Share with a partner.
• Reading fluency
• Vocabulary knowledge
• Content knowledge
• Higher-level reasoning and thinking skills
• Cognitive strategies to enhance comprehension
• Motivation and engagement strategies

74
Why Focus on Critical Learning Standards?

• Intensive instruction means teach less more
  thoroughly.
  
• If you dont know what is important, everything
  is.
  
• If everything is important, you will try to do
  everything.
  
• If you try to do everything, you will be asked
  to do more.
  
• If you do everything you wont have time to
  figure out what is important.

75
Improving Literacy-Related Instruction in the
Content Areas

• Recommendation 1
• Provide explicit instruction and supportive
  practice in the use of effective comprehension
  strategies throughout the school day
  
• Note Explicit strategy instruction is the most
  widely cited current recommendation for improving
  reading comprehension in all students.

76
Comprehension Strategies

• Active metacognition that leads to the use of
  fix-up strategies when comprehension fails.
  
• Use of graphic and semantic organizers, including
  story maps.
  
• Question generation
• Summarization and paraphrasing
• Selective rereading

77
Comprehension Research Support

• 100 of successful middle and high school
  teachers overtly taught strategies
  
• Only 17 of less successful teachers overtly
  taught the strategies

78
Conclusions about Comprehension Research

• Explicit instruction of strategies with teacher
  modeling (the I do we do you do model)
  
• Extended practice opportunities in the
  strategies
  
• Initial discussions to promote metacognition

79
Practical Issues for teaching Comprehension
Strategies

• Balance Strategy instruction should be the
  vehicle for effective content teaching
  
• Involvement using small group interactions
  effectively to increase the involvement of
  underachieving students and facilitate active
  discussion is critical.
• Number of strategies useful to teach more than
  one but how many is still up for debate
  
• Time for PD Training and feedback is crucial
  for teachers to become skilled in providing
  strategy instruction.

80
Improving Literacy-Related Instruction in the
Content Areas

• Recommendation 2
• Increase the amount and quality of open,
  sustained discussion of reading content
  
• Note Research results converge to suggest that
  comprehension of difficult text can be
  significantly enhanced by replacing traditional
  I-R-E (initiation-response-evaluation) patterns
  of instruction with discussion based activities
  in which students are invited to make
  predictions, summarize, link texts with one
  another, and with background knowledge, generate
  and answer text-related questions, clarify
  understanding, muster relevant evidence to
  support an interpretation, and interrelate
  reading, writing and discussion.

Alplebee, Langer, Nystrand, Gamoran, 2003
81
Discussion Research Support

• In higher performing (middle schools and high
  schools), at least 96 of the teachers helped
  students engage in thoughtful dialogue (i.e.
  shared cognition)

82
Conclusions about Discussion-Oriented Instruction
Research

• Extended discussions are associated with
  improvements in the quality of students thinking
  about what they read.
  
• Discussions impact student learning by
• Improving understanding of specific content
• Developing habits of analysis and critical
  thinking
  

83
Practical Considerations

• Balance the discussion-based approach will
  require adjustments to curriculum. There will
  need to be a balance between breadth and depth of
  coverage. Focusing on critical learning
  standards will help determine the amount of time
  that should be spent on any given topic.

84

• Research results converge to suggest that
  comprehension of difficult text can be
  significantly enhanced by replacing traditional
  I-R-E (initiation-response-evaluation) patterns
  of instruction with discussion based activities
  in which students are invited to
• make predictions,
• summarize,
• link texts with one another, and with background
  knowledge,
  
• generate and answer text-related questions,
• clarify understanding,
• muster relevant evidence to support an
  interpretation,
  
• interrelate reading, writing and discussion.

85
Improving Literacy-Related Instruction in the
Content Areas

• Recommendation 3
• Set and maintain high standards for text,
  conversation, questions, and vocabulary.
  

• Note Unless individual teachers raise their own
  expectations of literacy for all of their
  students, state-level policies will have little
  impact.

86
Conclusions about High-Standards Research

• One consistent finding is that higher-level
  questioning matters.
  
• Classrooms rated as placing higher academic
  demands on students also produced the strongest
  literacy growth
  
• Teachers in higher performing schools used the
  (high-stakes) tests as an opportunity to revise
  and reformulate their literacy curriculum
  
• More effective teachers tried to move students to
  deeper levels of understanding once initial
  learning goals were met, while less effective
  teachers moved to an unrelated activity with
  different content.

87
Practical Considerations

• School-level literacy leaders and teachers must
  apply the standards to classroom instruction and
  ongoing, formative assessments.
  
• Classroom teachers must teach in ways that
  directly support student growth toward the high
  literacy standards.

88
Improving Literacy-Related Instruction in the
Content Areas

• Recommendation 4
• Increase students motivation and engagement with
  reading
  
• Note Deep comprehension of complex text is an
  effortful process that requires active use of
  background knowledge, active use of appropriate
  reading strategies, and an actively thoughtful
  process

89
Research Support for Motivation and Engagement
Strategies

• Provide clear, interesting learning goals for
  instruction
  
• (use student-friendly language)
• Provide a reasonable range of choices of reading
  materials and activities.
  
• Provide interesting texts at multiple reading
  levels
  
• Provide opportunities to collaborate with other
  students
  

Important note Teachers need to pay close
attention to text difficulty and its match
to student skills.
90
Practical Considerations

• Instructional strategies to increase student
  engagement and motivation need to be taught to
  teachers.
  
• teachers who received training consistently
  implemented instructional strategies(and)
  students showed a significant increase in their
  engagement. (Reeve, Jang, et.al., 2004)
• Most effective teachers focus on a finite number
  of methods for increasing student engagement
  during literacy instruction.

91
Improving Literacy-Related Instruction in the
Content Areas

• Recommendation 5
• Teach essential content knowledge so that all
  students master critical concepts.
  
• Note The most important conclusion is that
  students with lower general verbal ability can
  comprehend and remember as well as students with
  high ability if they are equally familiar and
  knowledgeable about the material they are
  listening to or reading.

92
Research Conclusions about Teaching Essential
Concepts to Mastery

• Vocabulary knowledge has an important impact on
  reading comprehension.
  
• Wide reading
• Direct teaching of high-utility words
• Instruction in how to learn words independently
  (it is not looking them up in the dictionary.)
  
• Instruction and activities that increase word
  consciousness.

93
Research Conclusions (continued)

• Teaching strategies around the concept of
  similarities and differences and using graphic
  organizers resulted in significant increases in
  student mastery, especially with typically
  low-performing students.
• Well taught teacher-guided strategies can become
  an information-processing habit in students.

94
Instruction Programs
Adoption and Implementation of Research-Based
Reading Programs That Support the Full Range of
Learners

• A core instructional program of validated
  efficacy adopted and implemented schoolwide
  
• Supplemental and intervention programs to support
  core program
  
• Programs and materials emphasize big ideas
• Programs implemented with high fidelity

95
Programs Implemented with High Fidelity

• Programs are only as good as the level of
  implementation
  
• To optimize program effectiveness
• Implement the program everyday with fidelity
  (i.e., the way it was written)
  
• Deliver the instruction clearly, consistently,
  and explicitly (e.g., model skills and
  strategies)
  
• Provide scaffolded support to students (e.g.,
  give extra support to students who need it)
  
• Provide opportunities for practice with
  corrective feedback (e.g., maximize engagement
  and individualize feedback)

96
How Do We Enhance Instruction Learning?

• Caution If you change the research based
  elements of the program, your students may not
  achieve the same results as the students in the
  research you hope to replicate.
• For example, the 3 research based strategies of
  Read Naturally are
  
• Teacher Modeling, Repeated Reading, and Progress
  Monitoring.
  
• What might we expect
  if the teacher
  
• decided not to have the students
  listen to the tape?
  
• decided not to have the students
  read the story more than once?
  
• decided to have the students
  read the stories but not time
  
• them before and
  after they practice?

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98
Using the SWEPT to Evaluate a Schoolwide Reading
Program Assessment

• Activity Complete Section III of the SWEPT
• Review and Complete each item
• As a school team, record one common score for
  each item and document the information sources
  available to substantiate the score recorded.
  

99
SWEPT Section IV Instructional Time

• A sufficient amount of time is allocated for
  instruction and the time allocated is used
  effectively.

100
Examples and Non-examplesCan you tell which are
which?

• All students in our school receive at least one
  hour of reading instruction daily.
  
• I minimize downtime and time spent in transitions
  and provide students with many opportunities each
  day to practice important skills.
  
• I use lots of arts and crafts to get my students
  to express what they comprehend.
  
• I know the most effective methods to teach the
  important skills.

101
Instruction Time

• Schoolwide plan established to allocate
  sufficient reading time and coordinate resources
  
• Reading time prioritized and protected from
  interruption
  
• Provides a clear and consistent message that
  reading improvement is important and a schoolwide
  priority
  
• Maximizes the likelihood that students will
  receive uninterrupted (and therefore engaged)
  reading time
  
• Ensures that all students get sufficient time
  scheduled for reading instruction
  
• Ensures that time for reading instruction is
  consistent for students across classrooms
  
• Increases the ability to use and coordinate
  resources and staff

102
Instruction Time

• Instructional time allocated to reading should be
  dictated by the schoolwide plan
  
• Examples of this may be the schoolwide decision
  to allocate an additional period to reading in
  the school day
  
• A schoolwide plan reduces the variance in
  instructional time among teachers
  

103
Three Types of Instructional Time

• Allocated
• Actual
• Academic Learning Time Time children are engaged
  in tasks in which they can be highly successful

104
Organization and the Use of Time

• Maximizing students reading engaged time is
  the biggest single indicator of reading
  achievement.
  
• Time spent with arts and crafts or student
  selection of activities always produced a
  negative correlation with reading achievement.

105
Using the time wisely

• An Excerpt from
• Results Now How we can achieve unprecedented
  improvements in teaching and learning
  
• Mike Schmoker

• 1. Individually read the section entitled,
  Literature-Based Arts and Crafts
  
• In your team, talk about the prevalence of arts
  and crafts literacy
  
• instruction at the middle school level.
• 3. If time spent on arts and crafts activities
  was reduced, how would you
  
• replace the time with reading engaged time and
  skill building?

106
Use of Time

• In every school, from poor to affluent, we
  seldom caught kids reading or writing. What we
  did see was staggering amounts of coloring.
  
• (Mike Schmoker 100s of classroom
  observations)
  
• that coloring was the single most predominant
  activity in the schools they had observed right
  up through middle school.
  
• Learning 24/7 Classroom Observation Study
• Doug Reeves was similarly dismayed by the amount
  of time students spent coloring, cutting, and
  pasting.
  
• Making Standards Work

As cited in Results Now, (2006), Mike Schmoker
107
Observations from 1,500 classrooms

• Classrooms in which
• there was evidence of clear learning objectives
  4
  
• high-yield strategies were being used 0.2
• there was evidence of higher-order thinking 3
• students were either writing or using rubrics
  0
  
• fewer than half of students were paying
  attention 85
  
• students were using worksheets (a bad sign)
  52
  
• Non-instructional activities were occurring 35

Learning 24/7 Classroom Observation Study (2005)
108
Keeping a focus on learning

• Be very clear about the reading goals for your
  students
  
• Increase skill building and strategy-building
  activities
  
• Increase reading engaged time
• Increase language rich discussions about the
  text
  
• Increase direct vocabulary instruction
• Increase development of background knowledge
  related to learning goals.
  

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110
Complete Section IV of the SWEPT
111
SWEPT Section V Differentiated
Instruction/Grouping/Scheduling

• Instruction optimizes learning for all
  students by
  
• tailoring instruction to meet current levels of
  knowledge and prerequisite skills
  
• organizing instruction to enhance student
  learning.

112
A full 70 of U.S. middle school and high
school students require differentiated
instruction, which is instruction targeted to
their individual strengths and weaknesses.
(2004) Biancaraso and Snow. Reading Nex
t- A vision for Action and Research Middle and
High School Literacy
113
Differentiated Instruction/Grouping/Scheduling

• Example Statement
• I teach using active participation strategies and
  grouping techniques to engage all learners and
  scaffold the learning of struggling students.
  
• Non-example Statement
• I typically use whole group and independent seat
  work for instruction.
  

114
Differentiated Instruction Aligned with Student
Needs

• Students are grouped based on skill level
  (assessment results)
  
• Specified intervention and supplemental programs
  are implemented depending on student needs and
  profiles
  
• Groups are reorganized based on changes in
  student skill as assessed by regular progress
  monitoring data

115
Data Used to Make Instructional Decisions

• Are we meeting our goals?
• Did we do better this year than last year?
• Is our core curriculum and instruction working
  for most students?
  
• How do we match instructional resources to
  educational needs?
  
• Which students need additional resources to be
  successful?
  
• Which students need which skills?
• How well is intervention/instruction working?
• Is instruction working for some groups but not
  others?
  
• Is intervention effective?

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117
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118
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119
Flexible Grouping Used to Maximize Performance

• Grouping Options
• Students
• Within class, across class, across grade
• Size
• Whole class, small group (e.g. 3-8), one-on-one
• Organization
• Teacher led, peer tutoring, cooperative
  learning
  
• Location
• In classroom, outside of classroom

120
Improving Literacy Skills of Students Reading
Below Grade Level

• General Recommendations
• Schools should have tiered interventions that
  allow significant increases in intensity of
  instruction for students based on their literacy
  needs.
• Struggling readers must make more than one years
  growth in reading each year of instruction
  

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122
Using the SWEPT to Evaluate a Schoolwide Reading
Program Instructional Elements

• Activity Complete Section V of the SWEPT
• Review and Complete each item
• As a school team, report one common score for
  each item and document the information sources
  available to substantiate the score reported.

123
SWEPT Section VI Administration/Organization/Com
munication

• Strong instructional leadership maintains a focus
  on high-quality instruction, organizes and
  allocates resources to support reading, and
  establishes mechanisms to communicate reading
  progress and practices.

124
Administration/Organization/ Communication

• Example Statement
• Grade level teams exist and meet regularly to
  analyze student progress data and plan
  instruction.
  
• Non-example Statement
• We dont talk about or promote specific reading
  goals in the content areas. The teachers are all
  professionals and have their own ways to teach
  students.

125
Leadership Support

• Strong and Informed Instructional Leaders
  Maintain Focus and Establish Mechanisms to
  Support Academic Progress
  
• Administrators develop a coherent plan for
  reading instruction
  
• Leaders organize resources and personnel to
  support reading instruction
  
• A communication plan coordinated with all
  individuals responsible for teaching reading
  

126
Leadership Teams

• The use of teams at various levels to analyze
  data, plan instruction and offer support can be
  very effective in promoting cohesion and
  communication of reading goals.
• Types of Teams
• District Team (for larger districts)
• School Improvement Team/Building Level Team/You
• Grade Level Team
• Student Assistance Teams

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128
SWEPTSection VII Professional Development

• Adequate and ongoing professional development is
  determined and available to support reading
  instruction.

129
Professional Development

• Example Statement
• The principal or another teacher regularly
  observes and provides feedback for me to improve
  my skills.
  
• Non-example Statement
• I seldom collaborate with others on reading
  instruction nor have I been observed with the
  specific intent to review effective instructional
  practices in reading.

130
Professional DevelopmentAn Integrated System of
Research-Based Professional Development and
Resource Allocation

• Ongoing professional development is established
  to support teachers and instructional staff in
  reading priorities and effective instructional
  practices.
• Time is allocated for educators to analyze, plan,
  and refine instruction.
  
• Professional development efforts are explicitly
  linked to scientifically based programs and
  practices.

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132
Using the SWEPT to Evaluate a Schoolwide Reading
Program Administration/Organization and
Professional Development

• Activity Complete Sections VI and VII of the
  SWEPT
  
• Review and complete each item
• As a school team, record a common score for each
  item and document the information sources
  available to substantiate the score recorded.

133
Activity School Summary Score

• After your team evaluates current practices on
  all 7 sections, proceed to page 11 in the SWEPT
  
• Summarize the total score for each element and
  write that score plus the percent attained of the
  possible total in the spaces provided
  
• Sum your total school score and percentage
• Retain a copy of this document for planning
• Turn in one copy of page 11

134
What does a MiBLSi school look like when they
have a comprehensive schoolwide model for reading?
135
A MiBLSi School

• Has clearly defined, quantifiable goals that are
  linked to the essential elements and guide
  instructional decisions.
  
• Uses AIMS Web as its primary screening and
  progress monitoring measure and as an outcome
  measure. Teachers use AIMS Web data to group
  students and inform instruction.
• Has purchased and is implementing faithfully
  research-based supplemental programs to fill the
  gaps within the core program and to provide
  additional instruction and practice in essential
  components for those students who need it.
• Has purchased and is implementing faithfully
  research-based intervention programs to meet the
  needs of those students who do not benefit from
  the core instruction.

136
A MiBLSi School

• Dedicates at least 60-minutes to reading
  instruction daily.
  
• Provides additional instructional time for those
  students who fail to make adequate reading
  progress
  
• Determines group size, instructional time, and
  instructional programs according to learner
  performance
  
• Has a schoolwide reading plan which includes a
  targeted instructional map for Benchmark,
  Strategic, and Intensive students in each grade
  level. All teachers participate in this plan.
• Establishes leadership teams (e.g., District
  team, School Improvement team, Grade-level team)
  to analyze reading performance and plan
  instruction, ensuring that instruction is
  coordinated across grades and special services.
• Schedules ongoing high quality professional
  development to support teachers and instructional
  staff, including time for teachers to analyze,
  plan, and refine instruction.

137
Using the Results of the SWEPT to create an
action plan for your school
138
School Team ActivityReading Action Plans

• With your team, review the scores on the SWEPT
  Individual Summary to identify three areas in
  which you want to focus for the coming year
  
• Begin to establish goals. (Refer to slide 53.)
• Determine action toward goals (what), who will be
  responsible, and when the goals will be
  accomplished
  
• Retain a copy of this document for planning and
  make a copy to submit

139
Assignments

• Schedule a meeting to occur before your Strategic
  Reading training day with the following goals for
  the day being
  
• Set a schedule for the teams for the balance of
  the school year
  
• Share this information with your entire staff
• Complete AIMSWeb Assessment and enter data into
  website
  
• Schedule a meeting to analyze the data. What are
  the instructional implications?
  

140
References

• Alliance for Excellent Education (2004). Reading
  Next A Vision for Action and Research in Middle
  and High School Literacy. Washington, DC.
  
• Barton, P.E. (2000). What Jobs Require
  Literacy, Education, and Training, 1940-2006.
  Washington, DC Educational Testing Service.
  
• Carnevale, A. (2001). Help WantedCollege
  Required. Washington, DC Educational Testing
  Service.
  
• Greene, J. and Winters, M.. (2005). Public High
  School Graduation and College Readiness Rates
  1992-2001. New York Manhattan Institute.
  
• Heller, R., and Greenleaf, C. (2007). Literacy
  instruction in the content areas Getting to the
  core of middle and high school improvement.
  Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent
  Education.
• Kamil, M. (2003). Adolescents and Literacy.
  Washington, DC Alliance for Excellent
  Education.
  
• National Center for Education Statistics (2001).
  The Condition of Education. Washington, DC.
  
• Nations Report Card State Reading Snapshot
  Reports for Grade 8 (2005), as seen at
  http//www.all4ed.org/states2/Michigan.pdf

141
References

• Snow, C. and Biancarosa, G. (2003). Adolescent
  Literacy and the Achievement Gap. New York
  Carnegie Corporation of New York.
  
• Summary of the Second Adolescent Literacy
  Workshops Practice Models for Adolescent
  Literacy Success. Baltimore, MD. May 20, 2002.
  http//www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/adolesc
  ent/summaryIIa.doc
• Swanson, C. (2004). Projections of 2003-04 High
  School Graduates. Washington, DC The Urban
  Institute.
  
• Torgesen, J. K., Houston, D. D., Rissman, L. M.,
  Decker, S. M., Roberts, G., Vaughn, S., Wexler,
  J., Francis, D. J, Rivera, M. O., Lesaux, N.
  (2007). Academic literacy instruction for
  adolescents A guidance document from the Center
  on Instruction. Portsmouth, NH RMC Research
  Corporation, Center on Instruction.
• U.S. Department of Education (2003). Nations
  Report Card Reading 2002. Washington, DC
  National Center for Education Statistics.